A Thief Stole My Heart
by kittyallstars
Summary: All Ashley wants is a family. One with a mother and a sober father. But that's not going to happen. Can she and her little sister find a family in the group of orphans that befriend them? And what's with the stalker dude in the mask! rated T just in case
1. Go To Sleep!

"And then they lived happily ever." I finished and looked down at my little sister, hoping she would be asleep. No such luck. Her blue eyes stared up at my green ones. I groaned.

"Amy, you _need_ to go to sleep!"

"I can't Ashley!"

"Why not?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Im not sleepy."

"Well at least _try_." I pleaded.

"Ok, Ashley. Night."

"Good night sweetie." I pecked her on the cheek, and made my way to my own room. I changed into my pajamas and brushed my teeth. I stared at myself in the mirror.

My curly, dark brown hair reached down my back. Light brown freckles were sprinkled across my face, and my eyes were emerald green. If I looked up average in the dictionary, there would definitely be a picture of me there.

I touched the scar on my chin, and brushed the bruises on my arms with the tip of my finger. They were fading, slowly but surely.

I sat on my bed. I looked at my room, feeling sad. My mother had helped me decorate it a year before she died. The walls were a white, with a Japanese cherry blossom tree on one wall, the branches spreading to the other walls.

Then my eye fell on something I hadn't thought about since she died. My guitar. She had given it to me for my 13th birthday, because I had been begging her for one for months. I picked it up, tuned it, and strummed a few chords. Doing this made me think of my mom more than I had in a long time.

She had died in a car crash. A drunk driver, speeding. He had run into her head on, by switching lanes at the last second. He had barely gotten hurt. The doctor had told me she'd had a painless death. Like that made the pain any less for me.

My dad had started drinking soon after that, and then had taken to beating me. But I would never, ever let him touch Amy.

I heard the front door slam.

"ASHLEY!" I flinched. He was here. And obviously drunk again.

_Hey guys __ I hope you like it so far. Please review and tell me what you think!_


	2. Where Will We Go?

"_ASHLEY!" I flinched. He was here. And obviously drunk again._

I walked slowly down the stairs. My dad walked over to me and slapped me. I cried out and doubled over in pain as he punched my stomach. I clutched my midsection and tried to remember how to breathe. He laughed cruelly.

"A-Ashley?"

I spun around. Amy was staring at me in shock. Dad started stumbling over to her. He grabbed her by the arms and shook her hard.

"Daddy! Daddy stop!" she cried.

I was mad. Like _really_ mad. He was _not_ going to hurt my little sister. I pu_s_hed him down, which was very easy because drunk people do not have very good balance. I grabbed Amy and ran with her up the stairs to her room and locked the door.

He roared with anger, but I knew he probably couldn't even get up the stairs. I was right. I could hear him climb a couple of steps, then he would trip and fall.

Amy stared at me, her eyes filled with fear.

"What's wrong with Daddy?" she whispered.

I couldn't keep it from her any longer, now that she'd seen it herself.

I held her in my arms. "Amy? Do you know about alcohol, the yucky stuff in beer and wine?" she nodded.

"Well," I continued. "When you drink too much of it, it makes you act crazy. And then you never want to stop drinking it. Daddy's been drinking too much of it. He's going to hurt us if we don't leave soon."

She looked at me seriously. "Alcohol is bad." She said quietly. I nodded, tears filling my eyes.

"We need to leave tonight, after Daddy goes to sleep." I told her.

She started to cry. "But I don't want to leave Daddy!" I wiped the tears off her face and smoothed her hair back.

"I don't want him to hurt you, Amy." She was quiet for a moment, and then asked, "Where will we go?"

_Good point._ I thought. Then I noticed a picture on the desk by her bed. I picked it up. It was a picture of me and my family in Venice, Italy. I remembered that trip. Amy had only been a baby. I had loved it there. So had Mom.

Yes, we could go to Venice! I knew some people there that could take care of us! But how would we get there? Suddenly, I remembered something. When my Grandmother had died, I had been an only child. She had left me a very large inheritance. I was supposed to put it in the bank, but I had kept most of it.

Right now, it was in my dresser in an envelope. I grinned at my sister.

"Amy? We're going to Venice!"


	3. Meeting Bo

I waited until Dad was asleep, then I went to my room and packed my stuff. Jeans, shirts, blankets, anything warm. I packed a toothbrush and toothpaste, I was pretty sure I'd need them. I picked up a gold ring that Mom had once given me. I put it on a chain and hung it around my neck.

Then I took the envelope out of my dresser and counted the money. It should be enough for 2 tickets to Venice, plus extra for food and anything else we'd need until we got to Uncle Phil's house.

Phil wasn't really my uncle, but I always called him that. I knew he'd let us stay with him.

I took one long last look at my bedroom. A room that was filled with memories. I saw my guitar in the corner. I knew I couldn't leave something so close to my heart behind, so I grabbed it.

I went back to Amy's room to see if she'd finished packing. I entered the room in time to see her put a picture of our 'before' family in her bag. I smiled softly to myself.

"Are you ready?" I asked. "Yeah." She said. As we went quietly down the stairs, I could see my dad passed out on the couch. Sighing with relief I went to the kitchen and packed some food.

Then we left the house that we'd both lived in our whole lives.

We took a cab to the nearest airport and I bought our tickets. We slept on the bench outside of the airport that night. I covered Amy with the blankets I had brought.

The next morning we were both stiff and tired from the hard bench. We waited patiently for the flight, but by the time people were getting on the plane I was jumpy and nervous. I looked all around, expecting to see Dad jump out, furious and drunk. I shivered from the thought.

I got on the plane quickly, practically dragging Amy with me.

The flight was long and boring. I read a book I had brought to keep myself up, but finally I couldn't stop the sleep, and I slowly nodded off. Amy's head lay in my lap.

The sunlight streaming through the window woke me up the next morning. I yawned and looked at my watch. I jumped two feet in the air. It was freakin' 3 o'clock in the morning! Then why the heck was there sunlight…_oooh that's right_ I realized. _In Italy the time is 5 hours later than in America._ So it was really _9_ o'clock. _I guess my body needs to adjust._ I thought.

The plane landed, and I grabbed our bags and we got off. I was awestruck as I took in Venice. It was just as amazing as the first time I came here.

"Isn't it beautiful, Amy? Amy?" that was when I noticed Amy was no longer standing beside me. I looked around frantically. "Amy! Amy where are you?" I yelled.

I started asking around, speaking in Italian, asking people if they'd seen her.

"Hai vista la mia sorellina?" (have you seen my little sister?)

They shook their heads no. By this time I was in tears. Then I asked an old woman who was feeding birds.

"Per favore, hai visto mia sorella?" (please, have you seen my sister?) i asked, tears running down my face.

"Quanti anni?" (how old?)

"Sei." (six) I replied, immediately hopeful.

"La vidi vicino alla fontana di pietra. in questo modo." (I saw her by the stone fountain. That way.) she pointed.

"Grazie!" (thank you!) I said gratefully. She nodded and smiled at me. I ran in the direction she pointed me to, and i could see a fountain. When i got close enough, i could see Amy talking to a boy her age.

"Amy!" I yelled, even though i was right next to her. "Don't you ever freak me out like that again!" i hugged her close, the tears still running down my face. "I didn't want to lose you too." I whispered.

She hugged me back. "Im sorry. I followed the wrong person. I thought it was you, and then i was lost. But Bo helped me."

"Who's Bo?" I asked, confused. She giggled and pointed to the boy she'd been talking to. "That's Bo, silly! He makes me laugh." I looked down at the little boy. "Thanks, Bo. So where are your parents?"

"Dont have any." He stated.

"Oh im sorry. Well, who takes care of you?"

He brightened at this. "Prosper, my brother does! And Scip!"

I laughed. "Well can you find your way back home by yourself?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Im six and a quarter!"

"So is Amy! You guys must have a lot in common. Whoa, oh my god, you guys even look like each other!" I gaped at them. It was true. They both had the same wild, curly blonde hair, same blue eyes, same dimples...I shook my head. "That's just weird."

They both laughed. Amy looked happy. Happier than i'd seen her in a long time, even at home.

"BO!" I heard a voice call. "I have to go." Bo told Amy. "Bye, Bo." Amy sniffed. Then Bo ran off to who knows where, and Amy looked like she was about to cry. Gosh they'd only known each other for like 10 minutes. Did she really bond with him that fast?

"Come on," I took her hand. "It's time we went to see Uncle Phil." I knew this section of Venice well, and I knew just where he lived.


	4. The Thief Lord

I knocked on the door, but no one answered. I knocked again, and this time a young woman opened it.

"Parli inglese?" (do you speak English?) I asked.

"Yes." She smiled.

"Then may I please speak to Philip Johnson?"

She shook her head. "Sorry no one here by that name." My mouth dropped.

"Well, do you know where he is now?" I managed to get out.

She shook her head again. "No. Sorry." Then she closed the door.

Amy was tugging on my jacket.

"Ash, what are we gonna do now?"

I pondered this for a moment, and shrugged. "I guess we'll have to stay at an inexpensive hotel for a while. Maybe I can get a job. I mean, im _fifteen,_ I bet _someone_ will hire me.

We grabbed our bags and started walking. Things were starting to get more and more unfamiliar to me. I finally sighed. Ok, we were totally lost. I slumped against a brick wall, defeated. Amy sat down beside me.

"Are we lost, Ashley?"

I nodded. "Completely."

"Well, maybe I can help." A voice said from the shadows.

Amy and I both jumped. I looked in the shadows, straining my eyes to see anything. Nothing. "Who's there?" I kept my voice firm, trying not to show how scared I was.

A boy stepped out of the shadows, but I couldn't see his face. He wore a mask, with a long hooked bird beak. He looked about 16 or so, but it was hard to tell.

"What's with the mask?" I asked. He chuckled. "Sorry. I have to keep my face hidden in the daytime."

I looked around. "But it's dark." He shrugged. "True." He pulled the mask off. I sucked in my breath, he was seriously cute. Well from what I could see in the street light anyway.

Then my eyes narrowed. "Wait, what did you mean when you said you could 'help' us?"

He walked closer to me. I took a step back. "You don't have a place to stay, do you?" I hestitated, then shook my head. "I thought so." He knelt by Amy, and I held her tightly. "Would you like to come with me? I have a boy staying with me. He's about your age. And then there's Hornet, and Riccio, and Prosper. You'd have a lot of fun."

Amy looked at me. "Please, Ash. It _does_ sound like fun!"

I studied the boy closely. "Who _are_ you?" I asked

He put his mask back on. "I am the Thief Lord. Or Scipio. Whichever you prefer to call me."

…_what have we got to lose?_ I thought, but a tiny voice in the back of my head said _um, all your belongings! Duh!_ But then the bigger voice said _shut up!_. I sighed.

"Ok. We'll come. Where are we going anyways?"

He smiled, but didn't answer my question. He turned around and started walking in the other direction, which I guess was our cue to follow him. We grabbed our bags and tried to keep up. It was too dark to tell where we were going, but he seemed to know the way.

We stopped at a wooden doorway, and he knocked on it.

"Who's there?"

"It's Scip. Open up." And the door opened. He walked inside, but Amy and I just sort of stood there awkwardly. Then a boy came running up.

"Bo?" Amy asked, shocked. "Amy!" he yelled and they ran to each other.

I walked inside, looking at everything I could in the dim light. Was this a theater? It looked like one, but I couldn't be sure. "Amy wait for me…oh never mind." I sighed. I just hoped Bo would take care of her. I didn't think he'd let anything happen to her.

A girl walked up to me.

"Hi. I'm Hornet." She greeted me. I smiled at her.

"I'm Ashley. Could you please show me around?"

"Of course."

She showed me everything.

"So Hornet, who else lives here?"

"Well there's Riccio, and Mosca, and Prosper." Something clicked in my head.

"Prosper is Bo's big brother, right?" she looked surprised.

"Yeah. How did you know that? And as a matter of fact, your sister seemed to know Bo."

I grinned. "Yeah, you could say I ran into him earlier today."

"Oh. Well ok."

"So what is this place exactly?"

"It's an old theater called the Stella."

"How did you all get here?"

"Scip found each of us. We're all orphans here. Even Scip."

"So how do you take care of yourselves?"

"Well…see…we kind of have to steal…"

"Oooh, so that's why he calls himself the Thief Lord." She nodded.

Then there was a knock on the door, and Hornet went to let in 3 boys, all carrying heavy-looking bags.

"Ashley, this is Riccio." She introduced me to a boy with wild hair and bad teeth. He grinned at me and I smiled back. Then she introduced me to Mosca, a seemingly quiet boy with dark skin. "And last but not least, this is Prosper." She finished. Prosper looked a little like me, with dark hair and green eyes. I laughed.

"What?" he asked, confused.

I shook my head. "This is so weird. Your little brother looks just like my little sister, and now I look like you." He laughed.

I looked around at the Stella. "I think I'm going to like it here." I said.


	5. AN

**Hey guys, sorry for the a/n. I really need yall to tell me what you think of it, or you can leave ideas for the next chapter. Should she go out and become a thief? or does she need to adjust to her new home? Or should there just be more Scip in it? Or what? Please review the story. If I don't get reviews, im gonna start assuming the story is bad, and possibly stop writing.**


	6. Safe Place

I fell asleep that night on the ground by Amy, but I woke up the next morning alone, covered in a blanket. I guess it was Hornet that brought it to me.

Later, Hornet showed me to a cot in a room where a bunch of other cots were crowded into.

"You can sleep here tonight." She said.

I slipped my bag and guitar under the cot, and propped Amy's suitcase against the wall. This reminded me that I needed to find her.

"Do you know where Amy is?" I asked Hornet hopefully.

"Hmm…Bo probably took her near the stage." She said thoughtfully. "He's very attached to her." She added.

I thanked her and walked over to the door that said **STAGE** on it, and opened it and went inside.

It was a lot darker in there than I thought it would be, with no windows to bring in the sunlight. I crept softly around the room, calling Amy's name, quietly, more than a little scared by the fact that it was so dark I could barely see my hand in front of my face.

I started to imagine a guy in a hockey mask creeping up behind me, and then revving up a chainsaw, and then- "hello." I screamed and whirled around. Oh God, it was only Scipio.

"Why the heck did you sneak up on me like that?" I yelled at him. He laughed. I was distracted for a moment by that laugh. It sounded so care-free. It had been a long time since I had laughed that freely.

I blinked, shook my head, and concentrated on what he was saying. I stared into his dark, cold eyes.

"-so then I saw that the door was open so I went in to see who was in here. We don't usually come here until night." "Night." I repeated.

I guess he could hear the skepticism in my voice because he laughed again. "We have lights for this place."

"Oh. Sorry." I said apologetically. "I was looking for my sister. Have you seen her?"

He pointed out a door to my left. "I saw Bo take her over there. I thought he was kidnapping her!" he grinned.

I scowled at him. "Thanks." I mumbled and walked to the door. I could feel his icy gaze on my back, and I shivered.

I walked down a hall before I saw Amy and Bo sitting together. "Hey guys." I greeted them. "What's up?" Bo's wide eyes stared at me. "Are you really from America?" he asked. I nodded. "Whoa. Prosper and me, we came from England." He said proudly.

Amy looked at him adoringly. She had a sparkle in her eye. One I'd never seen before. But it looked a little familiar. She used to get a ghost of that sparkle whenever she talked about family. And brothers. I used to have two brothers. They'd disappeared one night, and whenever I told Amy about them, she would look up at me, and say that she knew we would find them.

Something clicked in my head, but it was whirling enough as it was, I couldn't sort it out now.

Bo's face grew serious. "Did your Daddy really hit you?" I nodded again unhappily.

He put his arms protectively around Amy, who was starting to cry. "It's ok, Amy. I won't let him hurt you."

"Th-thanks Bo." She sniffled. I hugged her tightly. She stopped crying long enough to ask me, "How long are we gonna stay here, Ashley?"

I was silent for a while, contemplating this question. "I'm not sure, Amy." I finally said.

"You can stay here forever!" Bo said, and changed the subject. I shook my head, smiling. That kid was really something.

I got up and left, Amy too wrapped up in her conversation with Bo to notice I was leaving.

I walked to the room with all the cots, and I took out my guitar out to tune it. Then I played a song that always made me think about my mom.

_Everywhere_ _**by Michelle Branch**_

_Turn it inside out so I can see_

_The part of you that's drifting over me_

_And when I wake you're, you're never there_

_And when I sleep you're, you're everywhere_

_You're everywhere_

_Just tell me how I got this far_

_Just tell me why you're here and who you are_

'_cause everytime I look_

_You're never there_

_And everytime I sleep_

_You're always there_

'_cause you're everything to me_

_And when I close my eyes it's you I see_

_You're everything I know_

_That makes me believe_

_I'm not alone_

_I'm not alone_

_I recognize the way you make me feel_

_It's hard to think that_

_You might not be real_

_I sense it now, the water's getting deep_

_I try to wash the pain away from me_

_Away from me_

'_cause you're everything to me_

_And when I close my eyes it's you I see_

_You're everything I know_

_That makes me believe_

_Im not alone_

_Im not alone_

_Im not alone_

_Whoa, oh, oooh, oh_

As I sang the last note, I heard clapping and whistles from behind me. I whirled around, unable to believe that I'd had an audience. Everyone except Scip stood there, looking like they were going to explode from excitement.

Hornet ran forward. "Sbalorditivo! Allucinante!" she cried. "Amazing! Incredible! Why didn't you tell us you could sing like that?"

I fidgeted uncomfortably. "I-um…..don't really like singing in front of people. I get too nervous." That wasn't the whole truth, but at least it would keep them back and off of me for a while.

She smiled. "I don't know why you need to be nervous. You're fantastic." I blushed.

"E-excuse me." I raced out of the room, and ran blindly down the halls. I climbed the stairs, jumped the poles, and finally stopped at a door that said **ROOF**. I opened it, and walked out onto the concrete and to the rail.

I gasped at the site. I could see beautiful blue canals, with little boats in them. There were houses everywhere, the vibrant red roofs standing out in the setting sun. the sunset itself was gorgeous. It spread across the sky, bringing orange the color of fire, red like blood, and every color of the rainbow as the sun sank.

I stood there for a few moments with the wind blowing in my hair, tossing it in my face. Then I turned around and headed back downstairs.

I was happy. Happy because I had a place to stay with really nice teens, and I could tell they were trustworthy. And I was happy, because I'd just found my safe place. The place I could go to when I was hurt, sad, or just needed fresh air.

I smiled at Hornet as I passed her. "Sorry about earlier. I'm better now." She shook her head. "No, it's our fault. We don't want you to sing if it makes you feel uncomfortable." I sighed in relief. "Thanks."

As I stepped into the cot room, I noticed Amy's frail frame curled up. I approached her quietly, and covered her in a blanket. Her eyes opened slowly. She blinked, yawned and whispered "'Night, Ashley." I kissed her forehead. "'Night, sweetie."


End file.
